The subject matter disclosed herein relates to digital X-ray detectors, and more specifically, to pixels of the digital X-ray detectors.
Digital X-ray imaging systems are becoming increasingly widespread for producing digital data which can be reconstructed into useful radiographic images. In current digital X-ray imaging systems, radiation from a source is directed toward a subject, typically a patient in a medical diagnostic application. A portion of the radiation passes through the patient and impacts a detector. The scintillator of the detector converts the radiation to light photons that are sensed. The detector is divided into a matrix of discrete picture elements or pixels, and encodes output signals based upon the quantity or intensity of the radiation impacting each pixel region, as measured by a receptor. The signals may then be processed to generate an image that may be displayed for review.
It may be desirable in digital X-ray imaging systems, e.g., utilizing certain types of detectors such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detectors, to have a greater dynamic range and greater temporal resolution. However, the detectors may have a fixed charge conversion gain or factor (CF) and its temporal resolution may be limited by its frame rate. Therefore, it may be desired to improve upon the pixel structure of the detectors to increase the dynamic range and/or frame rate of the detector.